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AFIA requests animal food exemption in FSMA Reportable Food Registry

Congress did not intend to include animal feed, petfood in amendment, says AFIA

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) filed comments on June 6, 2014, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting an exemption of animal food from provisions made to the Reportable Food Registry (Sec. 417) of the Federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act (FD&C) as amended by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

According to AFIA, Congress' intent when generating Sec. 211 of FSMA, which amends Sec. 417 of the FD&C regarding the Reportable Food Registry requirements, was only designated for human food products and not intended to affect animal feed or petfood. "The statutory language does not mention 'animal food', it addresses notification to 'consumers' and requires that notifications be published in 'grocery stores' only," said AFIA. "The 'consumers' of animal food products
are livestock or companion animals. These animals are not capable of purchasing
the products or reading a notification regarding a product. Customers or
purchasers would have been the more appropriate term if Congress intended this
provision to apply to animal food products."

AFIA also said the law's exemptions only
include "raw agricultural commodities" of fruits and vegetables—not
including grains used that occur in their raw or natural state—further
stressing Congress' focus on human food versus animal food. The organization highlighted its support for
every animal food facility having a recall plan under FSMA in combination with
an effective Reportable Food Registry system enforced by FDA, which AFIA said would prevent "most products that could cause serious or adverse health
consequences or death to humans or animals should be in the process of being
recalled or will not have ever reached a grocery store shelf."

March 2015

The March 2015 issue of Petfood Industry focuses on emerging pet industry trends. Read about NutriFusion, a company that saw immediate growth after expanding from human food into the pet food industry with its fruit and vegetable nutrient-dense products. Also, learn about how so-called "superfoods" are trending as a new pet food ingredient, and why innovation, convenience and sustainability are key in pet food packaging.